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Table of Contents

Managing the System

Managing the System

This chapter describes the EXEC commands you use to monitor and troubleshoot general system processes on your network server. These processes include:

This chapter also provides a general overview of these system tasks:

See the chapters containing information about the interfaces and the protocols supported by Cisco software for descriptions of the interface- and protocol-specific debugging and monitoring commands.

Most of the network management commands are executed at the privileged-level prompt, although there is a subset of monitoring commands that you may enter at the user-level prompt.

An alphabetically arranged summary of the commands described in this chapters is included at the end of this chapter.

Monitoring System Processes

Use the EXEC show commands to display data structures, configuration parameters, and usage statistics for the network server. To list all the available show command options, enter this command at the EXEC prompt.

show ?

Two different lists may be displayed, one at the user-level prompt, and one at the enabled, privileged-level prompt. The lists include a summary of the command function, for easy reference. See the chapter "First-Time Startup and Basic Configuration" for the procedure to enter these levels.

Monitoring the Environmental Monitor Card

Use this EXEC command to monitor the Environmental Monitor card:

show env

The command displays measurement statistics for this card.

Displaying Buffer Pool Statistics

The network server has one pool of queuing elements and five pools of packet buffers of different sizes. For each pool, the network server keeps counts of the number of buffers outstanding, the number of buffers in the free list, and the maximum number of buffers allowed in the free list. To display statistics for the buffer pools on the network server, use the show buffers command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show buffers [interface]

The optional argument interface causes a search of all buffers that have been associated with that interface for longer than one minute. The contents of these buffers will be printed to the screen. This option is useful in diagnosing problems where the input queue count on an interface is consistently nonzero.

Following is sample output without the optional interface argument. Table 5-1 describes the fields seen.

Buffer elements:
     250 in free list (250 max allowed)
     10816 hits, 0 misses, 0 created
Small buffers, 104 bytes (total 120, permanent 120):
     120 in free list (0 min, 250 max allowed)
     26665 hits, 0 misses, 0 trims, 0 created
Middle buffers, 600 bytes (total 90, permanent 90):
     90 in free list (0 min, 200 max allowed)
     5468 hits, 0 misses, 0 trims, 0 created
Big buffers, 1524 bytes (total 90, permanent 90):
     90 in free list (0 min, 300 max allowed)
     1447 hits, 0 misses, 0 trims, 0 created
Large buffers, 5024 bytes (total 0, permanent 0):
     0 in free list (0 min, 100 max allowed)
     0 hits, 0 misses, 0 trims, 0 created
Huge buffers, 12024 bytes (total 0, permanent 0):
     0 in free list (0 min, 30 max allowed)
     0 hits, 0 misses, 0 trims, 0 created
0 failures (0 no memory)


Show Buffers Field Descriptions

Field Description

Buffer elements Blocks of memory used in internal operating system
queues

Small buffers Blocks of memory used to hold network packets
Middle buffers
Big buffers
Large buffers
Huge buffers

hits Count of successful attempts to allocate a buffer
when needed

misses Count of allocation attempts which failed for lack
of a free buffer in the pool

created Count of new buffers created

trims Count of buffers destroyed

in free list Number of buffers of a given type which are not
currently allocated and are available for use

max allowed The maximum number of buffers of a given type
allowed in the system

failures The total number of allocation requests that have
failed for lack of a free buffer

no memory Number of failures due to a lack of memory to
create a new buffer

Displaying System Memory Statistics

To show statistics about the memory, use the show memory command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show memory

This command displays memory free pool statistics. These statistics include summary information about the activities of the system memory allocator, and a block-by-block listing of memory use. Sample output follows. Table 5-2 describes the fields seen; Table 5-3 lists the characteristics of each block of memory in the system.

 Head       Free Start   Total Bytes     Used Bytes      Free Bytes 
Processor  148B8C     1D66B0       2847860         561252          2286608

Address   Bytes Prev.   Next    Free? PrevF   NextF   Alloc PC  What
148B8C      916 0       148F20                        7B8E      *Init*
148F20     2024 148B8C  149708                        ADEE      *Init*
149708      536 148F20  149920                        AE18      *Init*
149920     2024 149708  14A108                        4A7C      *Init*
14A108       72 149920  14A150                        2492C     *Init*
14A150       44 14A108  14A17C                        36114     *Init*
14A17C      152 14A150  14A214                        1DBC      *Init*
14A214     2024 14A17C  14A9FC                        1DE0      *Init*
14A9FC      152 14A214  14AA94                        1DBC      *Init*
14AA94     2024 14A9FC  14B27C                        1DE0      *Init*
14B27C      100 14AA94  14B2E0                        3F2FE     Logger
14B2E0      152 14B27C  14B378                        1DBC      Router Init
14B378      480 14B2E0  14B558    y   1CE270  1CA938  5E85A     IGRP Router
14B558      100 14B378  14B5BC                        57A8E     DECnet Input
14B5BC       60 14B558  14B5F8    y   1CAFC4  1CA508  5EF08     IGRP Router
14B5F8       72 14B5BC  14B640                        7B830     XNS Router
14B640       72 14B5F8  14B688                        7B830     XNS Router
14B688       52 14B640  14B6BC                        7B840     XNS Router
14B6BC       88 14B688  14B714                        C724C     Virtual Exec
14B714       60 14B6BC  14B750                        C7602     Virtual Exec
14B750      480 14B714  14B930    y   1D1768  1CAFC4  5E85A     IGRP Router

Show Memory Field Descriptions

Field Description

Head The hexadecimal address of the head of the
memory allocation chain

Free Start The hexadecimal address of the base of the free list

Total Bytes The total amount of system memory

Used Bytes The amount of memory in use

Free Bytes The amount of memory not in use


Characteristics of Each Block of Memory

Field Description

Address Hexadecimal address of block

Bytes Size of block in bytes

Prev Address of previous block (should match Address on
previous line)

Next Address of next block (should match address on
next line)

Free? Tells if the block is free

Alloc PC Address of the system call that allocated the block

What Name of process that owns the block

Displaying Active System Processes

To see information about the active processes, use the show processes command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show processes

Following is a partial display of the command output. Table 5-4 describes the fields seen.

PID Q T PC Runtime (ms) Invoked uSecs Stacks TTY Process 1 M E 17518 40072 830 48279 606/800 0 Net Background 2 M E 5040 932 11 84727 486/800 0 Logger 32 M E 4C390 73012 6141 11889 480/800 0 IGRP Router 4 M E 22984 172 252 682 662/800 0 BOOTP Server 5 H E 5040 100324 66619 1505 606/900 0 IP Input 6 M E 21278 12188 22451 542 508/800 0 IP Protocols 7 M E 32F32 32 10926 2 592/800 0 TCP Timer 8 L E 33C1E 508 28 18142 576/800 0 TCP Protocols 9 L E 5040 1104 935 1180 666/800 0 ARP Input 10 L E 5040 352 458 768 674/800 0 Probe Input 11 H E 5040 2636 9077 290 710/800 0 Net Input 12 M T 2CF2 36976 49175 751 602/800 0 TTY Background 13 H E 5040 0 2 0 852/900 0 DECnet Input 14 M E 44AE4 21964 18029 1218 742/900 0 DECnet Routing 15 H E 5040 2848 6556 434 686/800 0 XNS Input 16 L E 5040 220 1642 133 748/800 0 XNS Protocols 17 L E 59794 13660 3310 4126 632/800 0 XNS Router 18 H E 5040 16652 59410 280 832/1000 0 AT Input 19 L E 5040 13508 59201 228 884/1000 0 AT Protocols 20 L E 73E0C 107496 40799 2634 832/1000 0 AT RTMP 21 L E 5040 56 31 1806 814/1000 0 AT NBP 22 L E 73E4A 84928 28526 2977 736/1000 0 AT ZIP


Show Processes Field Descriptions

Field Description

PID Process ID

Q Queue priority (high, medium, low)

T Scheduler test (Event, Time, Suspended)

PC Current program counter

Runtime (ms) CPU time the process has used, in milliseconds

Invoked Number of times the process has been invoked

uSecs Microseconds of CPU time for each invocation

Stacks Low water mark/Total stack space available

TTY Process Terminal that controls the process and name of
process


Note Because the network server has a 4-millisecond clock resolution, run times are considered reliable only after a large number of invocations or a reasonable, measured run time.

Displaying Stack Utilization

To show stack utilization, use the show stacks command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show stacks

The show stacks command monitors the stack utilization of processes and interrupt routines. Its display includes the reason for the last system reboot. If the system was reloaded because of a system failure, a saved system stack trace is displayed. This information can be useful for analyzing crashes in the field.

Displaying the System Configuration

To display the contents of the nonvolatile memory, if present and valid, use the show configuration command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show configuration

The nonvolatile memory stores the configuration information in the network server in text form as configuration commands.

Displaying the Error Logging Conditions

To show the state of logging (syslog), use the show logging command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show logging

This command displays the state of syslog error and event logging, including host addresses, and whether console logging is enabled. This command also displays SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) configuration parameters and protocol activity. See the section "Redirecting System Error Messages" in the chapter "Configuring the System" for an explanation of how to configure message logging. Following is a sample output. Table 5-5 describes the fields seen.

Syslog logging: enabled
    Console logging: disabled
    Monitor logging: level debugging, 266 messages logged.
    Trap logging: level informational, 266 messages logged.
    Logging to 131.108.2.238
SNMP logging: disabled, retransmission after 30 seconds
    0 messages logged          


Show Logging Field Descriptions

Field Description

Syslog logging When enabled, system logging messages are sent to
a UNIX host which acts as a syslog server--that is,
it captures and saves the messages.

Console logging If enabled, states the level; otherwise this field
displays disabled.

Monitor logging The minimum level of severity required for a log
message to be sent to a monitor terminal (not the
console).

Trap logging The minimum level of severity required for a log
message to be sent to syslog server.

SNMP logging Shows whether SNMP logging is enabled and the
number of messages logged, and the retransmission
interval.

Displaying Protocol Information

To display the configured protocols, use the show protocols command. Enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

show protocols

The command shows the global and interface-specific status of any configured Level 3 protocol; for example, IP, DECnet, Novell, AppleTalk, and so forth. The following is sample output:

Global values:
  Internet Protocol routing is enabled
  DECNET routing is enabled
  XNS routing is enabled
  Appletalk routing is enabled
  X.25 routing is enabled
Ethernet 0 is up, line protocol is up
  Internet address is 131.108.1.1, subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
  Decnet cost is 5
  XNS address is 2001.AA00.0400.06CC
  AppleTalk address is 4.129, zone Twilight
Serial 0 is up, line protocol is up
  Internet address is 192.31.7.49, subnet mask is 255.255.255.240
Ethernet 1 is up, line protocol is up
  Internet address is 131.108.2.1, subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
  Decnet cost is 5
  XNS address is 2002.AA00.0400.06CC
  AppleTalk address is 254.132, zone Twilight
Serial 1 is down, line protocol is down
  Internet address is 192.31.7.177, subnet mask is 255.255.255.240
  AppleTalk address is 999.1, zone Magnolia Estates

Troubleshooting Network Operations

The network server includes software to aid in tracking down problems with the network server or with other hosts on the network. The privileged EXEC command debug enables the display of several classes of network events on the console terminal. The privileged undebug command turns off the display of these classes. The EXEC command show debugging displays the state of each debugging option. See the section "Redirecting System Error Messages" in the chapter "Configuring the System" for an explanation of how to configure message logging.


Note Debugging output is given high priority by the system. For this reason, debugging commands should be turned on only for troubleshooting specific problems, or during troubleshooting sessions with Cisco engineers. Excessive debugging output can render the system unusable.

To list and briefly describe all the debug command options, enter the debug ? command at the privileged-level EXEC prompt. This section provides an overview of how to use the debugging commands. See the interface and protocol-specific chapters for the debug command descriptions.

To turn on all system diagnostics, enter this command at the EXEC prompt:

debug all

Its converse, the undebug all command, turns off all diagnostic output.

Testing Connectivity with the Ping Command

As an aid to diagnosing basic network connectivity, many network protocols support the packet internet groper (ping) program, which sends an echo request packet to an address, then awaits a reply. Results from this echo protocol can help in evaluating the path-to-host reliability, delays over the path, and whether the host can be reached or is functioning.


Note Not all protocols require hosts to support pings, and for some protocols, the pings are Cisco-defined and are only answered by another Cisco router.

To implement this program, use the privileged EXEC command ping. When the ping command is entered, the system issues a prompt for one of the following protocol keywords--appletalk, clns, ip, novell, pup, or xns.

The default protocol is IP. After determining the protocol type, the ping command prompts for an address or host name, repeat count (default is 5), datagram size (default is 100 bytes), time-out interval (default is 2 seconds), and extended commands (default is none). The precise dialog varies from protocol to protocol.

If a host name or address is typed on the same line as the EXEC ping command, the default actions will be taken as appropriate for the protocol type of that name or address.

The ping command uses the exclamation point (!) and period (.) in its display. Each exclamation point indicates receipt of a reply. A period (.) indicates the network server timed out while waiting for a reply. Other characters may appear in the ping output display, depending on the protocol type. The output concludes with the success rate and minimum, average, and maximum round-trip times.

To abort a ping session, type the escape sequence (by default, Ctrl-^, X).

Sample displays and tips for using these protocols are included in the chapters describing the protocols supported by the Cisco ping command.

Checking Routes with the Trace Command

The trace command is a useful debugging command which allows the network administrator to discover the routes packets will actually take when travelling to their destination. The trace command supports IP, CLNS and VINES route tracing.

trace [destination]

To invoke a simple trace test, enter the destination address or host name on the command line. The default parameters for the appropriate protocol are assumed and the tracing action begins.

To use nondefault parameters and invoke an extended trace test, enter the command without a destination argument. You will be stepped through a dialog to select the desired parameters.

Typing the escape sequence (by default, Ctrl-^, X) terminates a trace command. See the IP, ISO CLNS and VINES chapters for more information about using this command.

Writing System Configuration Information

This section describes the privileged write commands used to manage the system configuration information.

To erase the configuration information, use the following EXEC command:

write erase

This command erases the configuration information in the nonvolatile memory. This command does not affect the configuration in use.

To copy the configuration to memory, use the following EXEC command:

write memory

This command copies the current configuration information to the nonvolatile memory.

To copy the configuration to the network, use the following EXEC command:

write network

This command sends a copy of the current configuration information to a server host. You are prompted for a destination host and a file name.

To write configuration on the terminal, use the following EXEC command:

write terminal

This command displays the current configuration information on the terminal.

Testing the System

Included as part of the EXEC command set are commands that allow testing of system interfaces and memory.

Caution Use of these commands is not recommended, as they are intended to aid Cisco manufacturing personnel in checking out system functionality.

To test the system interfaces, use this EXEC command:

test interfaces

The EXEC test interfaces command is intended for the factory checkout of network interfaces. It is not intended for diagnosing problems with an operational router. The test interfaces output will not report correct results if the router is attached to a "live" network. For each network interface that has an IP address that can be tested in loop back (MCI and cBus Ethernet and all serial interfaces), the test interface command sends a series of ICMP echoes. Error counters are examined to determine the operational status of the interface.

To test system memory, use this EXEC command:

test memory

The EXEC command test memory performs a test of Multibus memory, including the nonvolatile memory.

Caution This test will overwrite the contents of memory. You will need to rewrite nonvolatile memory after running this command. If you test Multibus memory (for example, the memory used by the CSC-R four megabit Token Ring interfaces), you will need to reload the system to restore correct operation of the network interfaces.

EXEC System Management Command Summary

This section list all the EXEC system management and user commands in alphabetical order.

debug ?

Lists and briefly describes all the debug command options.

[un]debug all

Enables all diagnostic output. Its converse, the undebug all command, turns off all diagnostic output.

ping

Provides a diagnostic tool for testing connectivity. Results help evaluate path-to-host reliability, delays over the path, and whether the host is functioning.

show ?

The show ? command lists all the show command options. Two lists may be displayed, one at the user-level prompt, and one at the enabled, privileged-level prompt.

show buffers [interface]

Displays statistics for the buffer pools on the network server. The network server has one pool of queuing elements and four pools of packet buffers of different sizes. For each pool, the network server keeps counts of the number of buffers outstanding, the number of buffers in the free list, and the maximum number of buffers allowed in the free list. With the optional argument interface, this command searches all buffers that have been associated with the interface for longer than one minute.

show configuration

Displays the contents of the nonvolatile memory, if present and valid. The nonvolatile memory stores the configuration information in the network server in text form as configuration commands.

show debugging

Displays the current settings of the debug command options.

show logging

Displays the state of syslog error and event logging, including host addresses and whether console logging is enabled. This command also displays SNMP configuration parameters and protocol activity.

show memory

Displays memory free pool statistics. These statistics include summary information about the activities of the system memory allocator, and a block-by-block listing of memory use.

show processes

Displays information about all active processes.

show protocols

Displays the global and interface-specific status of any configured Level 3 protocol.

show stacks

Monitors the stack utilization of processes and interrupt routines. Its display includes the reason for the last system reboot. If the system was reloaded because of a system failure, a saved system stack trace is displayed. This information can be useful to support personnel for analyzing crashes in the field.

test interfaces

Intended for the factory checkout of network interfaces. It is not intended for diagnosing problems with an operational router.

test memory

Performs a test of Multibus memory, including the nonvolatile memory

trace [destination]

Allows the network administrator to discover the routes packets will actually take when travelling to their destination. The trace command supports both IP and CLNS route tracing. Typing the escape sequence terminates trace.

write erase

Erases the configuration information in the nonvolatile memory. This command does not affect the configuration in use.

write memory

Copies the current configuration information to the nonvolatile memory.

write network

Sends a copy of the current configuration information to a server host. You are prompted for a destination host and a file name.

write terminal

Displays the current configuration information.

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